


do you believe?

by agonizer



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: One Shot, The X-Files AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 07:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13162278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agonizer/pseuds/agonizer
Summary: Bergara looks him over for long, contemplative moments, enough that Shane just about wants to shift awkwardly from foot to foot, but he holds his ground. “Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials?” He says finally, lackadaisically, but there’s more to it, Shane can tell, and he shrugs.





	do you believe?

_I WANT TO BELIEVE_ , the poster reads in bold letters, underneath a picture of a UFO between two pines—it’s the first thing Shane notices when he steps into the small, cluttered office space, hidden away somewhere in the basement floors of the J Edgar Hoover building.

There was no answer to the knock on his door, so Shane entered without waiting much longer, takes in the sights. The whole space looks like someone has been squirrelling away every file, every slide, every newspaper clipping they could get a hand on.

“Are you lost?” A head pokes out from behind a row of file cabinets, and Shane pivots on his heel, his coat draped over his arm, then readjusts his gaze to about one head lower than he originally did. 

Agent Bergara looks younger than he expected, somehow; he’s bright-eyed, even for someone who is currently squinting suspiciously at him, and he raises an eyebrow as he steps out. He doesn’t look at all like the ‘Spooky Bergara’ he pictured, he notes. “Or are they finally sending down human sacrifices? I’ve been putting requests in with HR, but they’ve been ignoring me.”

Shane blinks for a second, perplexed, then can’t help but chuckle. 

“No, I’ve been sent here to commit regular ol’ career suicide, not to off me. I’m pretty sure,” he tells him, drily, and Ryan flashes him an amused grin in return. Spooky Bergara doesn’t have worryingly pronounced canines, so that’s good.

“I’m—”

“Shane Madej. I’ve read your dissertation.” Agent Bergara grabs a file folder off his desk, holds it up for Shane to see, and sure enough, it seems to be a copy of his dissertation, as if that had just coincidentally been the last thing Bergara had been reading. “They told me you were coming down here, I just didn’t believe it.” He pauses, purses his lips. “That they would tell me when they’re sending down a spy, that is.”

There’s a challenge in his tone, as if he’s baiting him, but Shane just shrugs. “I’m here to work on the X-Files. Just like you, Agent Bergara.” He pauses as he thinks it over. “Whatever that will entail.” 

Bergara looks him over for long, contemplative moments, enough that Shane just about wants to shift awkwardly from foot to foot, but he holds his ground. “Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials?” He says finally, lackadaisically, but there’s more to it, Shane can tell, and he shrugs.

“Generally? Sure. The universe is vast and ever-expanding.” Shane shrugs, acquiescingly, then goes on, “Do I believe they ever have or could have come to earth? No. Science, theoretical physics, is pretty clear about that one.”

Ryan wags a finger at him, and just about tuts at him. “There is science we just don’t know about yet,” he states, definitively, and Shane stares at him for a moment.

“There is… science we just don’t know about yet,” he echoes, with an amused undertone, until he realizes that Ryan is _very_ much serious, and for a second, he looks like he’s trying to rein himself in, then—he starts laughing, heartfelt. 

Agent Bergara, gratefully, doesn’t look offended, instead, there’s something like a challenge written all over his face, and somehow, it has broken the rising tension.

“Here’s some homework, partner,” he tells him, and presses a manila folder into his chest, until Shane reaches up to grab it. “We leave in the early a.m., so you better get some sleep.”

With that, Agent Bergara steps past him out the door. “I’ll be seeing you at the airport, 6:30,” he shouts over his shoulder, and then he’s gone.

Shane still stands in the office, by himself, clutching his jacket and now, a file folder—a little bewildered, a lot confused. 

And somehow… a little endeared. 

Shane takes a deep breath, then nods to himself and says to no one in particular, “All right, _partner_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for daryshkart over at tumblr <3 I'm taking prompts at madejmn if you want to pop on over!


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